Winter vegetable and fruit gardening

Sow broad beans, beets, peas, spinach, mesclun, carrots, radish, spring onion, and coriander directly into the garden.

 Plant winter vegetable seedlings such as broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Winter spinach, silverbeet, lettuce, celery, and kale. It’s also a great season for planting fruit trees, berries, feijoas, and grapes while the soil is moist and cool. Plant garlic and shallots now, and potatoes in frost-free areas.

Prune deciduous fruit trees to remove dead, damaged, or crossing branches to improve airflow and encourage healthy new growth. Do this during dry weather to avoid the spread of fungus. Avoid all-over pruning peach, nectarine and plum as you will lose the fruiting growth — leave this till after fruiting. Grapes and berry canes can also be tidied and shaped now.

Clear weeds, old vegetable crops, fallen fruit, and diseased leaves to help prevent pests and fungal problems carrying through into spring.

Spray deciduous trees to kill overwintering fungal spores (leaf curl, brown rot) and pests (scale, mites) do this after leaf drop but before new buds burst. Spread slug and snail bait around vegetables.

Mulch around trees with bark or wood chips to conserve moisture, suppress weeds, and add nitrogen back to the soil. Spread pea straw around garden beds and berry patches to keep fruit off the ground and avoid rot and weeds.